Want to know where Tim Cook stands on data privacy? I’d say he made it quite clear in a recent interview with the Electronic Privacy Information Center. According to this Mashable article, Cook took a supposed jab at Google & Facebook (without actually mentioning their names).

“I’m speaking to you from Silicon Valley where some of the most prominent and successful companies have built their businesses by lulling their customers into complacency about their personal information. They’re gobbling up everything they can learn about you and trying to monetize it. We think that’s wrong. And it’s not the kind of company that Apple wants to be. So we don’t want your data.”

“We don’t think they’re worth have your email or your search history or now even your family photos data-mined and sold-off for God-knows-what advertising purpose,” said Cook.

This is more than just about data and advertising. Cook said these efforts have “a chilling effect on our first amendment rights, and undermine our county’s founding principles.”

Good words from a good man. Apple has long promoted that they are in the business of selling hardware, not their customers’ data. I don’t trust any of these companies fully, but I admit, I do trust Apple the most. Good on you, Mr. Cook.